


Code Name: Messrs

by orphan_account



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Animagus, Animagus Harry Potter, Boys Will Be Boys, F/M, Hogsmeade, Hogwarts, I Tried, Invisibility Cloak, Lily is a force to be reckoned with, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, The Marauder's Era, The Marauder's Map, To Be Edited, Werewolf, Work In Progress, it's happy I promise
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-21
Updated: 2015-07-21
Packaged: 2018-04-10 09:05:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,677
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4385948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Remus can't remember the name of the cat his mother owned, but he does remember it hating him and scratching at his legs 24/7. Unfortunately, he also remembers the creature meeting a rather gruesome end after a meeting with a werewolf. A werewolf who's existence Remus is anxious to keep to himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. PROLOGUE

**Author's Note:**

> Well, I was sitting there and I said why the fuck not.

Remus sat rigidly in his seat. Lyall Lupin grinned at him from the platform, pressing his palm against the window of Remus's compartment. “Head up, son,” his father said for the umpteenth time that morning. Remus forced a smile back, trying his very best not to let the butterflies he was feeling show on his face. Remus and Mr Lupin had been one of the first few people on platform nine and three quarters that morning. Hope Lupin, had roused an exhausted Remus from his broken sleep at the crack of dawn. Now the platform bustled with young witches and wizards boarding the Hogwarts Express and their parents seeing them off.

  
The train blew its whistle and Remus took a deep, apprehensive breath. Mr Lupin combed calloused fingers through greying hair and gave Remus one last reassuring smile and waved, standing back from the train. Remus swallowed down the lump in his throat as he grinned with gritted teeth and waved enthusiastically to his father.  
The train had just began to move when the compartment door slid open. Remus perked up at once, a twinge of excitment settling itself in his chest. He momentarily forgot to be worried as he peered curiously at two boys who walked in and sat across from him.  
  
They looked to be about the same age as Remus, he hoped that they too were beginning their first year at Hogwarts. “Hi, is it okay if we sit in here?” A skinny boy with round glasses and tousled hair smiled at him. “Of course,” Remus said in what he hoped was a casual way. “I'm James,” the boy with the flyaway hair spoke again, “Potter,” Remus stuck his hand out instinctively and his eyes darted to the long scar on the back of his wrist as he took it, “Remus Lupin,” he said softly, ignoring how he tore his eyes away from the old gash. He then held out his hand to the other boy who had come in with James. He flinched slightly as if worried Remus might have started to slap him with it. “Peter P-Petigrew!” He squeaked, barely shaking Remus' fingers.

  
“Is it your first year at Hogwarts?” Remus asked them kindly, unabashed by Peter's timid behaviour. James grinned and rubbed his hands together, “It is! I can't wait to play quidditch for my house!” then the grin faltered slightly, “Can't, 'course. Not this year.” Then he looked to Peter, “You?”  
Peter stared at James as if shocked he was being acknowledged by him, “Yeah- I hope I'm in Gryffindor,” he said in a quiet voice, small, watery eyes darting around the compartment.  
  
James smirked, “Me too, I'd like to show them Slytherins what I'm made of, y'know?” he informed Remus. Remus thought that anyone else saying it and it would have seemed cocky, but James had a determined, proud air about him. Peter goggled at him for a long while. Mere minutes passed before the compartment door slid open again and a thin girl with mousy hair falling around her shoulders popped her head in, “Oh! First years!” she said excitedly and she sat right next to Remus, leaving the door open so they could hear the chatter of other students.

The girl beamed at them, she had a long nose that looked almost like a beak when she smiled. “I'm Bertha Jorkins, in third year,” she said proudly, tossing her limp hair over her shoulder, “I'm looking for a small white rat, have you seen him?”

  
James, who was just staring at her with slightly narrowed eyes opened his mouth to answer when someone began to call Bertha. “Jorkins? I've found your bloody rat again-” a short girl of about fifteen or sixteen dressed in her school robes peered into the compartment. Wild curly black hair flew in all directions. She may have been pretty if it weren't for a pinched mouth and a nose that stuck into the air. She held up a snow white rat by the tail, it screeched and squirmed. The pale girl smiled but it didn't reach any other part of her face. “Here,” she said, swinging the poor creature from side to side. Bertha had gone stiff as she waddled into the aisle to scoop up her rat in her hands. The other girl's smile dropped and she leaned in to Bertha, “If I find him again, Jorkins,” her eyes became slits as she contorted her face in anger, “I'll give you back his head in a jar.” with that she turned on her heel and Bertha swiftly did the same. The three boys stared into the aisle after them. "Who'd you reckon that nutter was?" James asked.  
   
Just then, a small old witch came around with a trolly filled with sweets and cakes and the three of them jumped up. James bought one of everything. Remus awkwardly handed the witch a few sickles for two chocolate frogs. Peter bought pumpkin juice and seemed a great deal brighter. He even got up to close the door once more when it was roughly pulled open, sending Peter onto the seat across from him with a thud.

James, who was munching a pastry stopped chewing in favour of looking to the doorway. The boy was already dressed in his school robes and appeared looking quite peeved until his eyes landing on the plump, struggling figure in front of him. He blinked at Peter, who was scrambling onto the chair.

“I'm sorry,” he said slowly as though trying not to laugh, then lifted his dark eyes to the others. “May I?” he gestured to the now empty seat next to James. James shrugged nonchalantly and Peter was forced to stay where he was next to Remus rather than his original seat. Remus couldn't help but let his eyes linger on the new arrival. He had jet black, wavy hair that fell past his ears, framing his face. His cheek bones were high and pronounced, his robes were in impeccable condition.

Remus thought of his own school robes which had several sewn up patches on the hem. The boy had a good two inches on Remus and he looked stronger too. Remus, who's mother told him he still had puppy fat, wrapped his arms around his middle self consciously.  
“Sirius Black,” he nodded to James. His eyes widened, “I'm James Potter,” he said in a much less enthusiastic way than when he had introduced himself to Remus. Remus introduced himself then, smiling at Sirius who nodded at him. Peter cleared his throat several times to say his name but couldn't manage it so Remus did it for him.

Sirius sighed and threw his head back. “My family's driving me mad, I had to get away,” he said in a long suffering voice. James leaned forward to look at him properly, “You're with that lot that like the Dark Arts, aren't you?” James said testily. Sirius looked at him casually, “No, I'm not _with_ them,” he said. James leaned forward some more, “But that's them? Your family is the old wizarding-”  
“Yes.” Sirius cut in shortly. Remus, who's mother was a muggle and insisted they live in the middle of nowhere, had never heard of the Black family before.  
  
Sirius grinned at James, “Delighted to be going to Hogwarts! My cousins won't know what hit them,” He said with genuine happiness. Remus blinked at him, “You're looking forward to annoying your cousins?” he asked blankly. Sirius sat up straighter, “Uh, yeah,” he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world to do. He looked properly at Remus, making him sit up straighter too. “If you knew what they- scratch that, you'll find out exactly what they're like. You might even join in on the annoying, Lupin,” he gave a small laugh and turned his attention back to James. "I'm hoping I'm put into Gryffindor, I think that'll annoy them the most," he said, crossing his legs and relaxing into his seat. "Gryffindor is the best. I bet we'll all get in!" James said excitedly, having suddenly warmed to Sirius.

  
Remus began to read one of his schoolbooks, _Hogwarts: A History_ not long after that. James and Sirius had began talking very animatedly about their favourite quidditch teams and the best games ever played. Remus's mind began to wonder off at ' _Wronski Feint_ '. Peter would occasionally make a comment, usually to agree with James.  
The landscape outside was now very mountainous and was covered with thick trees. "Better change," Remus said, checking his watch and realising that they were almost there.

Remus, James and Peter dressed into their robes just on time. The whistle sounded again and soon there were students streaming onto the platform. "Firs' years! Firs' year this way!" a huge man with a tangled bush of hair that turned into a short beard along the way was beckoning the first years towards him, holding a lantern in his hand that looked miniscule in comparison to his gigantic hands. Remus wondered if he was a giant. The man who was worth five Peter's in length and width led the group of first years to a lake where there were several row boats waiting. The air was cool and crisp as the boats sailed silently across the lake. Remus huddled into himself for warmth. Everyone was quite silent on the way, anticipation having stolen their tongues.

  
When the castle first came into sight over the trees, there was a chorus of "Ooh" and "Aahh". Remus couldn't help but smile, his heart hammering in his chest. The castle was huge and beautiful with it's hundreds of lit up windows. The way that Mr Lupin had described Hogwart's Castle had left Remus hanging on his every word, but the description now seemed like an injustice.  
  
Though the boat ride wasn't unpleasant, Remus was glad to be within the warmth of the castle once more. The first years, all huddled together in the Great Hall, were gathered up by a stern looking witch, Professor McGonagall, with glasses and her hair tied into a bun to be sorted in the Great Hall. Some of the students looked excited, most looked terrified. Remus found himself with James, Sirius and Peter all the way up the giant hall. The other students watched the first years file in and to the top of the hall in front of the top table and a wooden stool with a rugged looking hat perched on top of it.

  
Remus was slightly startled when the hat burst into song. His eyes flicked up to the bewitched ceiling he had read about, then to a man sitting at the top table who Remus instantly knew had to be the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. Remus had never met Dumbledore but over the past two years, there had been a great deal of communication between he and Mr Lupin that Remus had not failed to notice. 

  
Dumbledore met his eyes and smiled, Remus felt himself redden as he smiled back. Remus knew Dumbledore must to have had to pull a lot of strings to enable him to come to Hogwarts. He started again when he was pulled out of his thoughts by the hat roaring, "HUFFLEPUFF!" and a loud cheer erupted from their table when a small blonde boy hopped off the stool to join them. 

  
Clearly, the hat had some trouble deciding where to put some students for it took a rather long, silent moment when it was placed on some heads. Remus glanced at Sirius out of the corner of his eye. Any moment and Sirius would be called, he was simply bouncing on his feet. Sure enough, when Professor McGonagall called out, "Black, Sirius!" he nearly ran to the stool and plopped the hat on his head. 

  
The hat didn't take long before shouting out, "GRYFFINDOR!" and there was a loud cheer from the Gryffindor table as he joined them, his grin going from ear to ear. Remus caught himself clapping longer than the rest.  
  
James sidled in next to Remus for a better view. When a girl with long red hair and brilliant green eyes called Lily Evans was sorted into Gryffindor, Remus couldn't help but notice James smashing his palms together in applause. When Remus's turn came, he took a deep breath, tried not to look at everyone in the hall peering up at him and placed the hat on his head.It fell over his eyes and the hat was suddenly speaking to Remus in his head. "Ah, lots of brains here, mhm...intelligence...kindness! Yes, ah but very brave. Indeed, yes...GRYFFINDOR!" Remus, feeling slightly giddy, joined the cheering Gryffindor table, sliding in next to Sirius. Sirius clapped him on the back, Remus nearly choked on his own spit.

James and Peter were sorted into Gryffindor too. James beamed triumphantly, "I told you!" he said. Dumbledore beamed at all of the students and called for silence, he welcomed the first years then warned everyone away from the new tree, the Whomping Willow that had been planted on the grounds just this year. He then said a few words that didn't make much sense to Remus, but he clapped heartily anyways. Then the feast began. Some of the older students introduced themselves to the first years. Remus took a shining to Gideon Prewett who showed him a bracelet with a tiny wolf on it that howled when it saw the moon.  
Sirius attempted to fling bits of mashed potato at a girl called Narcissa Black, his cousin sitting at the Slytherin table who had long silky white blonde hair. Peter laughed at James's jokes a little too hard, bits of soggy cabbage spraying everyone at one point as James tried to get Lily Evans to laugh too.

  
Remus, who had never seen so much delicious food in his life, piled as much as he could on to his plate. His father, who insisted he cooked so he wouldn't have to milk the cows was rather woeful. The best he could do was plain meat with carrots and potatoes. Not that Remus particularly cared at any rate, in his good spirits he thought little of his home meals.  
  
Soon, everyone was well fed and ready for a good night's rest. Remus went to follow the rest of the Gryffindor's back to the common room but he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He spun around to face none other than Albus Dumbledore. Remus swallowed, his thoughts immediately turning over to the worst. Remus was sure it was all too good to last, Dumbledore would surely come to his senses and see that it wasn't right to keep such a dangerous beast in a school. "Hello, Remus, walk with me?" he smiled kindly at him. Remus tried to smile back but was sure Dumbledore could read his thoughts anyways. They walked out of the Great Hall. There were no more students anymore, only the odd ghost floated through the walls.

"The Whomping Willow I mentioned," Dumbledore said thoughtfully, "Rather vehement tree, quite ruthless. Of course, not if you know how to immobilise it!" he said cheerfully. Remus open and closed his mouth, unsure what was going on. "Your father and I decided to plant it for you, when you need it. Just pick up a branch- as I'm sure there will be nearby, that tree _is_  violent-" he seemed to have lost his train of thought because Remus was lost again just when he thought he was getting it. "Ah, yes, just prod the not next to the gap in the trunk, that does the trick." Dumbledore said slowly. "If you need any assistance, you know where to look," Dumbledore smiled again, looking down at Remus.

Remus was sure he got it- the Whomping Willow was planted for his transformations. Prod the knot? Remus supposed the tree swung at people when they came near it or something of the like. Remus hoped that would be enough to keep people out.  
"Here we are then!" Dumbledore said happily. They had stopped outside a portrait of a plump woman. "Goodnight, Remus!"   
"Goodnight, sir." Remus returned the smile. "Oh, I nearly forgot! _Flobberworms_ ," As soon as Dumbledore said it, the portrait swung open. Dumbledore turned to go but before he did Remus called for him to stop.  
  
"Uh, I- Thank you, professor." Remus felt lame that that was all that he could manage at the time, but Dumbledore looked at him from over his half moon spectacles and nodded. Remus felt happy with that and turned to climb through the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room for the first of what would be many times.  
 


	2. Chapter One

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I tried to find out what Alice Longbottom's maiden name is but I'm not sure it's right.

Remus was awoken by James yelling into his face, only his head visible through the curtains on the four poster. Remus blinked a few times, trying to gather his bearings. "What did you say?" He asked, his voice hoarse from sleep. James then threw the curtains open. "I said rise and shine for day one of third year!" He beamed at him and Remus glowered for a moment, thinking it was criminal to be that cheerful in the morning.

Sirius seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Remus as he was sprawled out on his own bed next to Remus's wearing his robes. James gasped dramatically at him, "NO!" and with that he leapt onto Sirius and there was an almighty struggle which ended up with them both groaning in pain on the floor. Peter looked bright too, he gave Remus a small smile, "Morning!" he chirped.

Remus fought against every urge in his body telling him to hex Peter.  
When James had successfully dragged everyone into the Great Hall and sat them down at the table, he began to stuff his face merrily. "I'm glad I decided to take Muggle Studies instead of Care of Magical Creatures," Sirius said groggily, inspecting his timetable which McGonagall just handed him. "I couldn't deal with Morning Time James every day." Remus laughed, James seemed unabashed by all this. "Well, you know what, Black? I think I win this round," His eyes flickered down the table, where Lily Evans was eating porridge with Alice Fortescue and Molly Prewett, a sixth year girl.

Sirius snorted, "I can't believe you picked the same classes as her. You said you'd rather eat your own glasses than take Arithmancy and look at you now!" He shook his head, "I am dissapointed, James."  
James ignored him, stabbed his fork into yet another sausage and chewed happily.  
   
Remus was perhaps a little more excited than he liked to let on about the new subjects. Peter had of course picked the same ones as James, following his lead to the edge of the Earth. Remus had accidently -and insisted every night since he chose them that it was definitely an accident- picked the same subjects as Sirius. Divination, which they all had together, and Muggle Studies. Third year also came with visits to Hogsmeade, the first of which James and Sirius had spent all night planning.

Remus found himself flicking through the new Defence Against the Dark Arts schoolbook at the table as he ate. Their teacher this year was Professor Welch, a stout man with huge ears. He stumbled upon a page clearly displaying the word "Werewolf" in large, bold print and he shut the book fast.  
Since first year he had been sneaking out to the Whomping Willow to transform. Most times he went out, he hurt himself so badly he had to stay in the hospital wing for up to two weeks. He convinced himself it was getting better, though. His excuse to his friends was that he was simply very clumsy and weak. Remus knew they weren't stupid, they didn't try to hide that they didn't believe him either. But Remus hoped against hope that they would never find out. He was sure they would be disgusted.

  
Suddenly, Gideon came running into the Great Hall and sat next to Remus. He handed him a several rolls of parchment. "Uh," Remus turned the parchment around but there was nothing on it. "That's for ruining your things last year," he smiled, looking pleased with himself. Remus remembered Gideon playing Exploding Snap with his brother Fabian in the Gryffindor common room and knocking Remus's ink all over every bit of parchment he owned. Remus smiled wryly at the fourth year, "Thank you, Gideon, but you really didn't have to." Gideon waved his hand dismissively, then turned, "Hey Mol, your cat keeps following me everywhere," he shouted to his sister. Molly looked up and sighed, "Well, bring him over here to me then."  
"Oh! Aren't you sweet?"

  
James turned away from Peter so fast, his glasses nearly flew off. Lily scooped up a fluffy grey cat from Gideon's feet. "What's his name, Molly?" She asked, stroking the cats fur. "Cobb," Gideon answered for her. Molly tutted, "I wasn't the one who named him, maybe he thinks you own him, Gideon."

  
James had crawled under the table to the other side with alarming speed, Sirius held on to the back of his robes to keep him from jumping Lily. "Oh, I just _love_ cats, I-" James began, making Remus grin fondly, however a certain Slytherin had ruined his moment. A tall, skinny, pale, greasy haired third year called Severus Snape came striding over to Lily. Peter, Sirius, James, Remus and even Gideon gave Snape a sour look. Lily, however, looked simply delighted to see him.  
  
Remus saw James deflate, but Sirius had jumped up next to his best friend to help him look menacing once more. The Great Hall was filling up with students chattering happily, examining their timetables. Remus caught Regulus Black, brother to Sirius, giving the group a long calculating look. Remus was glad when he seemed to decide not to come over. When Regulus had come to Hogwarts for the first time when they were in second year, there had been many a brawl between he and Sirius. "Shall we go for a walk? Our first lesson is in ten, Sirius." Remus politely interrupted the tense silence as James glowered at Snape, rubbing the cat and giving Lily an oily smile. Peter hopped up, seeming disappointed a fight hadn't broken out.

  
Gideon bid Remus a good day as the four set out into the castle. "We're out in the grounds, James, we-" Peter shut up when James cast him a dark look and shoved his hands in his pockets. "Oi," Sirius punched James in the arm, "Cheer up, it's early days." Remus thought the look James gave him was appreciative but he was still rather tetchy as the group split and Peter began to chatter to James about what he would do to Snape if Peter were him. "I almost feel bad for James being without his sidekick now," Remus joked, smiling at Sirius. Sirius smirked, "That boy would be lost without me,"

  
Remus and Sirius took the seats at the very back of the classroom just in time, as their teacher, Professor Sammon walked briskly into the room. They shared their lesson with the Ravenclaw students, so all in all, the class was quiet and attentive apart from Sirius drawing pictures and trying to make Remus laugh. At one point Remus snorted loudly from the effort of holding it in and Professor Sammon scowled and took two points from Gryffindor. Sirius decided he didn't like Professor Sammon. 

  
James was in a much better mood when they met up before Potions. Sirius didn't even have time to ask what he was so happy about before he let them know. "Snivellus fell flat on his face in the mud," James said, joyously rubbing his hands together. "Fell?" Remus asked sceptically. Peter laughed, "Sure, he _fell_ ," he said, elbowing James. James was too happy to notice as they walked in to Potions together.

  
Remus felt that day one was great. They did, unfortunately get quite a bit of homework. They sat huddled around a table in the common room after dinner, trying to come to an agreement.

"Alright no, scrap that, how about-" James flipped his piece of parchment over and began to write out our names for the fourth time. "Remus does Defence homework for Peter, Divination for me and Sirius." James looked up at Remus, who shrugged. "Okay then, Sirius, Charms for Peter, Muggle Studies for Remus and Potions for me?" James waited for confirmation. Sirius hummed, "Potions? Eh, yeah fine." James brushed over Sirius's questionable Potions abilities. "Me? I'll do Remus and Peter's Transfiguration homework. Sirius I'll- uh," James stared angrily at his parchment. "We'll figure this out later," Sirius said, yawning. "This is drastically boring anyways." He added, sliding the parchment away from James. "Peter's not allowed do anyone's homework. He never remembers to change the wording," James said, trying to grab back the paper. Sirius held it out of reach.

"What if we did our own homework?" Remus suggested, only a tiny bit exasperated. He knew that this was the easiest option as James, who was a stickler when it came to being fair, would change the agreement at least five times in the first term.  
James begrudgingly agreed and they played Gobstones until Peter started to nod off whilst sitting up and they went to bed.  
  
The time seemed to go by unnaturally fast. Remus and the rest of the third year students were soon informed by Professor McGonagall that their first Hogsmeade visit would be the coming weekend, which Remus realised with a jolt of uneasiness, was the weekend after Wednesday's transformation. Remus felt as though everywhere he went, there were people talking about what they were going to do and where they were going to go first in Hogsmeade.

  
Matters didn't improve when James wrote out a long list of things to get from the sweet shop and most importantly, Zonko's. Remus tried very hard to be excited with them, but there was a dark weight in his heart. They'd know for sure something was wrong when he didn't turn up to the village with them. On Tuesday night, when everyone had gone up to their dorms, Remus sat on his own in the common room in front of the fire to catch up on homework and admittedly, to brood in private. Mr Lupin had been quite happy to sign the form for Remus. He had told him that some of the best times he had at Hogwarts were spent in Hogsmeade. Remus had been itching to go ever since. The trips meant that he also found out that the shack he transformed in, was known as the Shrieking Shack, and people thought it was haunted because of the noises he made in there. Remus chewed his lip anxiously as Sirius and James made plans to investigate the shack not two days ago.

  
Remus was about to give up on his homework when he heard, "Wotcher, Remus!" and he almost ripped his parchment in half with shock. He jumped up to find Sirius, or rather, his head floating weirdly without a body. "Sirius!" Remus exclaimed, "Where are you off to?" he asked in what he hoped was a nonchalant tone. Sirius pulled James' invisibility cloak off of his shoulders, "Kitchen, got hungry. What're you up to? I thought you were in bed." Sirius asked, ruffling his hair which was messy from the coak. Remus smiled, "Just trying to get my homework done."

  
Sirius gave him the look he caught Regulus giving them on the first day back. Then, just as Regulus had done, he seemed to have decided against something. "Want to come?" Sirius gestured to the portrait hole. Remus shook his head, feeling very glum. This was his only chance of getting sleep for the next few days. Sirius gave him an odd look and said, "Alright," in an almost grumpy way, making Remus feel much worse than he already did.  
 

  
 


	3. Chapter Two

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll update as often as I can. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Remus woke early on Wednesday morning with a start. His stomach felt like led and the food spread out on the table in the Great Hall never looked so unappetising. He had gone down to the hall on his own and tried to concentrate his Potions homework again. Remus had never shot Sirius down before, he was quite afraid that Sirius would notice where Remus dashed off to tonight. "Cheer up, Lupin! It might not happen!" a voice coming from behind him caused him to blot ink all over his essay. "Oh, Gideon," he said, his voice cracking. He forced a smile, "I'm not very good at Potions," he said. Gideon grinned and sat in next to him, "I'm talented with a cauldron, truth be told."

"Lies," his brother, Fabian, sat on the other side of Remus eating a slice of toast. "Shut up, I'm brilliant at it." Gideon turned his toast into a floppy bit of rubber and Fabian spat it out in disgust. Their good natured bickering was enough to keep Remus' mind off more pressing matters for a few minutes. He excused himself from them to duck out of the hall until the other three came in. Remus considered spending the day in the hospital wing, feigning sickness but quickly chastised himself for being silly. In Remus' daze, he ran straight into someone, quills and books flying everywhere. "Oh! I am so sorry!" Remus found himself facing Lily Evans.

She shook her head and stooped with Remus to pick up their books. "Don't worry about it, Remus," she said softly, handing him his quill. Lily had always sat with Remus for Charms, James liked to interrogate Remus on the matter regularly. "Are you alright?" She asked, kind eyes searching his face. "Yes, I'm fine. I'm sorry, again," he gestured to the books she clutched in her arms with his only free arm. "No, no, that's okay. Well, I'll see you later on then," she smiled widely at him before brushing past him. Remus was suddenly filled with another stupid desire to tell her what was wrong. He quickly walked onwards before he got to put the plan into action.  
  
Remus made his way to Professor McGonagall's classroom for double Transfiguration. To his relief, it was empty and he sat in the usual bench at the back and stuck book up to his face with no intentions of actually reading to avoid talking to anyone. Remus listened carefully as each person came in to the classroom. Remus tried to prepare himself for suspicious looks from his best friends. "Hey Lupin, you know you're holding that book upside down, yeah?" Frank Longbottom was frowning from the bench in front of him. Remus slowly turned the book the right way around, "Ah, yes. I-" Remus began to quickly think up an excuse but was saved by James and the others coming to sit in next to him. A girl from Ravenclaw who had walked in after them nearly tripped over herself for staring back at Sirius.

Sirius didn't seem to have noticed. "Morning," he said rather stiffly to Remus. James cast him a hurt look, "I was looking for you, you had a run in with Lily I heard. Did she mention m-" James was getting ready to interrogate Remus but thankfully for him, Professor McGonagall swept into the room and James bit his tongue as he sat down.   
Everyone was sitting foreword in their seats today, eyes never leaving Professor McGonagall who spoke about animagi. "An animagus must be registered. They elect to transform into an animal. Now it is very complicated to become an animagus, very difficult transfiguration magic. Anything could go wrong," Professor McGonagall explained. Then, quite suddenly, there was a tabby cat in place of where she stood. Everyone gasped in awe and clapped as she transformed back into herself. James was nearly hanging off the edge of his seat.   
Remus thought it would be nice if he could choose to turn into a werewolf instead of involuntarily becoming a mindless beast every full moon. Everyone was chattering excitedly as the class ended. Unfortunately, that was the last good moment to Remus' day. "It'd be cool to change into an animal, wouldn't it Remus?" Sirius commented as they made their way to Divination. Remus took too long to answer and he knew Sirius was searching his face sceptically. Every teacher mercilessly piled homework on to them too. There was a drastic increase in the amount given since second year much to everyone's misery. Moreover to Remus, who supposed he'd have to do it all in a hospital bed.  
  
"Wanna play chess?" James asked Sirius lazily back in the common room that evening as Remus tried to get as much homework done as possible. Sirius rolled over to James. "Remus, you don't have to do that all tonight," Sirius said, looking up at him as James pulled out his chess set. Remus shrugged, "Better to get it done now and be free later!" He rushed out, trying to concentrate on his detailed explanation of the use of aqualungs. "I should probably do mine too," Peter said miserably, glancing at his pile of books, "I think Professor Welch will skin me alive if I hand it in late again,"

  
Remus was just finishing up his History of Magic essay when James let out a loud yawn and stretched. Remus noticed with a jolt that the common room was empty save for them and he nervously checked his watch to find that he had twenty minutes to get to the Shrieking Shack. "I'm off," James said, getting to his feet. Peter clambered after him, "Yeah me too, I'm beat," he said, leaving all his books behind him as he climbed the staircase. Remus packed all of his things away, aware of Sirius watching him do so. "You too?" He said quietly. Remus scratched a particularly noticeable scar on his neck he tried to hide with his long, sandy hair. "Actually, I'm not feeling very well. I'm going to go up to Madam Pomfrey for something." Remus gave Sirius a sheepish smile. Sirius looked at him for a long moment. Remus didn't move but he felt his heart hammering in his chest. "See you in the morning then." He then turned and took the staircase two steps at a time.

  
With a sigh of relief, Remus dumped his bag into a corner and practically ran out of the common room. Remus almost missed one of the trick steps and tripped, landing on his elbows on the floor. He heard Peeves the poltergeist cackle in amusement as Remus got to his feet again. "Running off somewhere again, Loopy?" He said in a sing song voice as he hovered above Remus, who was still briskly making his way out of the castle. "Yes, Peeves, no time to chat this time either I'm afraid." Remus said, finally reaching the doors. He broke into a run, no one had caught him out yet aside from Peeves but sometimes he thought Dumbledore made sure no one did. Once, Ogg the gamekeeper heard him trip over and had looked around for a while. Remus had walk has quietly as he could past his cabin.

  
Remus reached the tree which was getting ready to swing at him. He quickly found a long tree branch lying in the thick grass and poked the knot as always. The shack seemed like it was waiting for him. Floorboards creaked as he went to sit in the furthest place away from the entrance he could possibly get. It was dusty and dark. Remus always felt very cold and alone in the shack, but of course, he never spent that long in there as himself. Although he could consciously make out what was happening around him as the wolf, he could never control it. It was like a dream. Or more so, like a nightmare. Moonlight streamed in the filthy window above Remus and he swallowed down a noise of pain. His insides always felt like they were being torn apart and it was the worst part of the transforming itself. Remus fell forwards on all fours and shut his eyes as he felt his mind unhinging. He gagged on his own breath, almost unaware of the mangled sounds he was making now. His bones felt like sharp knives trying to pierce out of his skin and the pain was blinding. The wolf couldn't breathe for a moment from the pain of standing up, hunched over and twitching. Then he looked out of the grubby window, his yellow eyes fixed on the silver orb in the sky before he let out a long, suffering howl.   
    
                                                                                                                *  
  
When Remus was himself again, his arms and legs were a bloody mess. He lay naked and shivering on the shack's rotting wooden floor, trying to tell his body to move. He heard birds chirping loudly outside, the room was tainted slightly red. Remus knew he had to get back up to the hospital before people started to wake up. He winced when he used his arms to prop himself up. His eyes scanned the destroyed room to find his torn robes thrown on the floor. Trembling and gritting his teeth, he got to his feet, his knees bending like an old man as he walked over and bent down to his robes. The fabric felt dreadful against the teeth and claw marks marring his skin. He felt the robes become sodden with his own blood as he stumbled out of the Whomping Willow, wheezing with the effort. Remus squeezed his arms around his middle, where a long set of claws had cut ugly marks. He had to drag himself up steps and through corridors, the portraits making comments as he struggled past them.

  
It felt like too long before he collapsed into Madam Pomfrey, who was absolutely hysterical at the sight of him. Remus fought very hard not to fall unconscious from the mind numbing pain as she rushed to get him out of his robes behind the curtains. Remus caught her muttering words like, "never before" and "the worst" very quickly spoken under her breath. Remus had to agree with what he presumed she was saying. It had never been this bad before. Madam Pomfrey took a long time to clean out all of his wounds. Each one sent a new shock of pain through Remus. She healed as many of the scratches and bites as she could. A few remained angry and open, some left white, bumpy scars and some disappeared completely. One ran from his cheek to his shoulder as a scar. She dressed the others, his arms and legs soon felt like they were completely wrapped up in bandages. The nurse then made Remus drink a disgusting vile of yellow potion and told him not to move for at least two hours and to get some rest.

Remus had been here before, of course. Remus didn't know if Madam Pomfrey knew what he was but even if she hadn't known, she'd have a pretty good idea by now. The last time it had been that bad for him, only in first year, he spent twelve days in the hospital wing.

His entire body was numb in an instant so even if he had wanted to move, he couldn't. It was a relieving to put it lightly, to feel like his mind was detached from his body in the safety of his actual body. Remus didn't notice he had even drifted off to sleep until he felt a hand on his bandaged wrist and he blinked awake. The light was too much at first but he then noticed it was as a matter of fact a very dull day. He could hear the rain thudding on the windows. The curtains around his bed weren't pulled anymore and the hand around his wrist was gone. He pulled himself up to face his two visitors with a tired grin. "Watch it!" Madam Pomfrey came bustling over to Remus' bedside to prop three pillows behind his back so he could sit up. She looked disapprovingly at Peter and Sirius before quickly walking away again to someone else who'd grown three black, fluffy tails a few beds over. She'd never particularly liked the four of them. Most likely due to the amount of time Peter came wondering in literally sprouting plants out of his chest or James having exploding some potion all over himself.

  
"Merlin's Beard, Remus. You're not looking good," Peter said, sitting on the same side as Sirius and reaching over him to pat Remus' shoulder. Which hurt a lot more than Remus would ever admit. Sirius rolled his eyes, "Well I'd like to see you fall down three flights of stairs and coming out of it looking fresh as mallowsweet."  
Remus tried to look like the story of him falling down the stairs wasn't new to him. "Well, I should hope those stairs are okay. I had a nasty fall," Remus frowned because he didn't like it at all, lying to his friends and because he'd have hard time explaining the bandaged up bites if they didn't heal. But he would take it against them finding out what really happened to him. Sirius laughed, "You've been out for two days y'know," he said sitting back and crossing his legs. Peter nodded, "It's a good thing you woke up before the trip!"

  
Remus thought Poppy Pomfrey would rather set a dragon loose in the school before she'd let Remus out just after waking up. "Where's James?" Remus asked, trying to change the subject. "Detention. He told Slughorn he'd quite enjoy sticking his face in undiluted Bubotuber pus more than going to his club." Sirius laughed fondly. "We'll come back later under the cloak with some food," he smiled. Remus felt a little hot under the neck. "They've been coming here nonstop, Mr Lupin." Madam Pomrey came to change the water at Remus's bedside and cast another annoyed look at the two. "Really, I hope you're satisfied that he will wake up now, Mr Black!" She said as if it weren't the first time she had to say it. Peter didn't take any notice of this but an odd look came over Sirius's features.

Peter and Sirius had to leave a few minutes later on Madam Pomfrey's demand. Remus smiled to himself as no more than a half an hour later, the door opened and seemingly no one came in. His three best friends threw off the cloak and poured sweets onto Remus' bed. They talked happily for hours, James telling Remus stories about how Lily had very well almost smiled at him in Charms on Thursday and excitedly let him know that the quidditch season was starting. Sirius said he might try out but Remus knew Sirius preferred to watch as his brother was on the Slytherin team and if Sirius could help it, he kept "exactly seven metres away from that twat at all times." Peter made a few joke about stairs that Remus had to force himself to laugh at, feeling guilty as he did.

  
The three of them would have gladly stayed however, a familiar meowing caused them all to jump under the cloak and muttered hurried goodbyes to avoid Mr Filch. Remus had some difficulty getting to sleep after that and again he didn't register he had done until he heard someone at his bedside table. He sat up to see Lily. She smiled warmly at him and placed two cards on his table along with a big bar of chocolate. "I know you like that," she gestured to the chocolate. Remus grinned, he had admittedly already gone through seven bars since waking. "One of those cards is from Mary McDonald," she said, sitting down on the chair next to Remus' bed. "Tell her I said thank you very much. And you too, thank you," he said, taking the chocolate bar of the table. "You're welcome, Remus. How are you feeling?" She asked, tucking a strand of red hair behind her ear.

"Much better," he said honestly. "I think your friends are under the impression that you'll be coming to Hogsmeade with them today," she bit her lip as Remus cast his eyes downwards, "Well, I've just persuaded Madam Pomfrey and she said you could go if- oh I'm sorry, but she asked me to look after you." Lily sighed. Remus felt slightly agitated at this, "I'm perfectly fine, I-"  
"You are not," Madam Pomfrey appeared from nowhere, as she liked to do sometimes. "Falling down stairs!" She let out a suffering sigh. "I trust Lily more than I trust those friends of yours," she added, rushing off yet again. Lily leaned down to him, "I'll stay with you until we get there, how about that?" She said with a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Also, Madam Pomfrey will kill me if anything happens to you so please try and be careful,"   
Remus thought that seemed like a good arrangement. There was a new spring in his step, he felt as though a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders and he would have been skipping down the hall to the outside if his legs weren't as stiff as Professor Binns' humour.

Lily was joined by Alice, Frank and Mary (who blushed furiously and looked away as she saw Remus approaching). "Where's Sev?" Lily asked, peering around. Remus and Frank shared a look of disgust. "Oh...ah, with Mulciber and Avery I think," Alice said softly. Lily masked a look of disappointment, "Oh, okay." She said tensely. They walked outside to join the large group heading to Hogsmeade. Lily handed McGonagall her form and Remus'. Remus strained to see where James was to catch his eye. When he did, his mouth fell open and Sirius kicked his shin to bring him back to life. Remus grinned and itching to join them, he bustled forward with everyone else.

 

  
 

  
  
 


End file.
